Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to location based services management and more particularly to location based currency exchange services management.
Description of the Related Art
Currency is a generally accepted form of money, including coins and paper notes, which is issued by a government and circulated within an economy. Used as a medium of exchange for goods and services, currency is the basis for trade. In finance, a currency exchange rate between two currencies, also known as a foreign exchange rate, is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. The currency exchange rate is also regarded as the value the currency of one country in terms of the value of currency of another country.
A currency exchange is a business enterprise in which the exchange of currency is facilitated on behalf of a buyer of the currency and the seller of the currency. Oftentimes a service offered by a bank or financial institution, currency exchange also may form the basis of a stand-alone business enterprise. In a currency exchange service, the currency exchange profits from its services either through adjusting of the exchange rate or the taking of a commission. Thus, the conduct of a currency exchange is highly dependent upon the knowledge by all participants to a currency exchange transaction of the current market to buy and sell a currency of one country in respect to the currency of another country.
With the advent of the Internet, the information requisite to an efficient currency exchange transaction has become widely available in real time giving rise to several currency exchange tools. The ubiquity of mobile computing has only enhanced the ability of the different parties to a currency exchange transaction to accurately engage in currency exchange. Popular mobile applications permit both offline and online computation of currency exchange rates. As well some mobile applications permit online currency trading through globally established foreign exchange marketplaces. In all circumstances, the administrative cost of conducting a currency exchange transaction can be high. Consequently, many prefer to conduct small currency exchange transactions outside of established currency exchanges and globally established foreign exchange marketplaces.
In this regard, in many locales, smallish currency exchange transactions with minimal administrative fees occur daily, such as through hotel reception desks, local retail merchants, restaurants and even amongst individuals in the street. Armed with access to the Internet, then, two peer participants to a currency exchange transaction can simply determine an appropriate exchange rate manually and perform the transaction utilizing the determined rate and without very high transaction fees. Obviously, some risk exists with respect to the trustworthiness of a local currency exchange partner in a foreign jurisdiction. To help address some of the safety concerns in respect to small peer-to-peer currency transactions, at least one mobile application combines an online travel advice forum with peer matching in a specified location in order to provide a peer-to-peer currency exchange platform with minimal to no transaction fees.